A heartfelt "thank you" from Chitungwiza!
How you are helping others
(Photo: Rokpa’s Chitungwiza centre is an oasis in the midst of high density housing)
Dear Subscribers,
I am delighted to be sharing the following message from Vivienne Kernohan at ROKPA, a wonderful charity run by the Harare Buddhist Centre in Zimbabwe.
ROKPA Support Network Zimbabwe is delighted to be the recipients of financial support from David Michie and his wonderful Substack community.
As a small charitable organisation with a big vision and a staff of just six, we have been operating since 1998. Finding the funds to deliver our much-needed services is a constant challenge. When David visited us after delivering his Mindful Safaris in Victoria Falls last year, we were overjoyed by his generous donation which he stressed was only made possible by the support of you, his Substack community. So, thank you for your kindness and generosity. It makes a huge difference to those we support.
Here at ROKPA we provide several vital services for some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community including those living with HIV and families with children with disabilities.
Drop-in Centres for the vulnerable
We run two Drop-in Centres – one in Harare (the capital city of Zimbabwe) and another in Chitungwiza which is a dormitory town about 25km from Harare. At both centres vulnerable people can receive medical treatment, food and other support as required. We also provide essential medicines for conditions such as high blood pressure, epilepsy and other common ailments. Sadly, government health services throughout Zimbabwe are often unable to provide these medicines meaning that many people would go without if it were not for ROKPA and the support we receive from generous people like you.
(Photo: Lunchtime at the day care centre)
Day Care Relief Centre for children with disabilities
We also run a thriving Day Care Relief Centre in Chitungwiza for children and young people living with physical and/or intellectual disabilities. Here we provide daily activities, physical therapies, and nutritious meals from our large vegetable garden. The children are encouraged to help in the garden as part of their education and therapy.
Chitungwiza also has a small pre-school whose fees help support the day care centre. We also fund school fees for children from vulnerable families and encourage the able-bodied children to mix with those with disabilities, thereby developing a greater sense of understanding and acceptance.
Small start-up loans
We run a program that provides small start-up loans to help lift people out of dependency by helping them to establish their own small businesses. We work alongside those we provide loans to, giving them the support they need to succeed.
I would like to share the stories of a few of the people whose lives you have impacted.
Sekai
Sekai is the youngest in a family of three children with a single mother who is a domestic worker and earns just US$40 a month – the typical wage here in Zimbabwe which is not enough for a family of four to live on.
Sekai was born with an intellectual disability and without her right arm. Before Sekai’s mother heard about the Chitungwiza Relief Day Care Centre, Sekai and her siblings were left in the care of a neighbour. As kind as the neighbour was, she was not able to fully cope with Sekai’s disability. Now Sekai’s mother can go to work knowing that she is in safe hands.
With support and encouragement from the ROKPA staff and volunteers, Sekai is a happy and very sociable child who runs to greet all the Centre’s visitors. She loves colouring-in, enjoys singing nursery rhymes and joyfully leads the other children when it’s time to pick up litter around the Centre grounds.
Naomi, Ruvimbo and Tarisai
Naomi, Ruvimbo and Tarisai received a ROKPA start-up loan in 2019 which enabled them to establish a sewing business making uniforms, clothes and teapot warmers which they sold at local markets. When Covid arrived in Zimbabwe in early 2020 the ladies quickly responded and began making and selling reusable face masks.
Naomi and Ruvimbo are both widows who fend for their families through the sewing business, while Tarisai is a single mother with a daughter with a disability. Thanks to the loan they received, all three women are now able to feed and clothe their families. They are also setting wonderful examples for their children who may, one day, follow in their footsteps.
Gogo (Grandmother) Chamu
Gogo Cheidza Chamu is a widow who lives with her 13 grandchildren aged between 10 and 23. All 10 of her biological children passed away leaving her to take care of their children.
Due to the economic situation in Zimbabwe, none of the Cheidza’s older grandchildren have been able to find regular work. Chiedza started receiving medical help through our Drop-in Centre in mid-2020, after her only working granddaughter lost her job. She is on long term medication for osteoarthritis and hypertension and is only able to receive her medication because of ROKPA.
(Photo: Tiny carrying Nokutenda in the traditional way)
Nokutenda
Nokutenda is a lively little girl, now aged two, who was born prematurely. A hospital error resulted in serious damage to her foot, which eventually led to the amputation of her left lower leg. Nokutenda started having seizures and was diagnosed with generalised epilepsy. Tragically, her father’s family, fearing the expense of this disability, chased her mother, Tiny and her two siblings away.
It was this experience that led the family to ROKPA, as Nokutenda needed an MRI scan of her brain. This showed that the epilepsy was probably due to lack of oxygen during birth. Despite being on medication, Nokutenda continues to have frequent seizures which often result in her having to spend time in hospital. This makes it difficult for Tiny to hold down a job, as she must stay with Nokutenda in the hospital.
Last year Nokutenda endured a second amputation due to continuous pain as her leg grew. ROKPA once again assisted with the costs associated with this surgery and has also funded a new artificial leg for her
(Nokutenda after surgery)
You are changing lives
The needs of Zimbabwe’s poor and disadvantaged are great and can be overwhelming for a small organisation like ROKPA. Your generosity and desire to share with those in need is so greatly appreciated. Thanks to your donations we have been able to help many people and will continue to do so the future.
Viv Kernohan
Rokpa Support Network
Harare Buddhist Centre
(Photo: children helping with the vegetable garden)
From David:
I would like to add my own heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for your support. In developing countries like Zimbabwe where jobs are scarce, poverty is overwhelming, and public health services are virtually non-existent, the dollars we donate mean the difference between despair and hope.
Putting ourselves in the position of people like those in Chitungwiza, as we are encouraged to by the Buddha, imagining ourselves - even for a short while - with their lives, their fears and their dreams, helps us cultivate equanimity from which a heartfelt compassion quite naturally arises.
Thank you for not simply feeling compassion, but for taking actions motivated by it, and for being part of our small, global community helping others!
May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness!
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!
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Thank you David for sharing this story. As Buddhists we are encouraged to give - time, energy, donations, etc- as a way of rejoicing to be able to help other beings. Sometimes, we want to give but don't always know how, or what to whom. You offer us opportunities! Thank you so much for sharing these opportunities with us🙏 I rejoice in the possibilities you offer to give to other beings. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you!
"May all beings have happiness and their causes ....." 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for researching and finding these opportunities to give and to help people in need of support. Being of some little help in that is a gift in itself. May all beings benefit.